Sosa stymied the Marlins first with his glove, leaping into the vines to take away a potential triple in the third inning. Then he took a low slider back through the middle for an RBI single in the fifth to tie the game 1-1. In the eighth, his two-run homer onto Waveland Avenue gave Wood all the support he needed.

"That's a very good sign when a guy starts hitting the ball back through the middle," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said of Sosa's single, a sorely needed boost to help another outstanding Wood performance. "That's about as perfect a swing on a ball as you can have."

Jose Hernandez added a two-run homer before a crowd of 33,054.

For his part Wood (9-6) was conducting a symposium on why he merited an All-Star roster spot. Only one Marlin advanced past first base as Wood notched a complete game, striking out 12 to mark the 33rd time he has posted double-digit strikeouts. The strikeouts moved him back ahead of teammate Mark Prior for the NL lead, 156-145.

"I was a little disappointed after warming up when the game didn't get started," Wood said of the 1-hour-46-minute delay. "I just tried to stay loose. My fastball and slider were working and I was staying ahead of the guys."

Sosa and Wood shook off recent disappointments. Sosa made the final out in Tuesday's loss with the tying and winning runs aboard, and Wood lasted less than four innings in his last outing, the July 4 debacle against St. Louis in which he was battered for seven runs.

But that was then. The travails of this season, big and small, have not shaken Sosa's belief in himself.

"The day that I lose belief, that's the day I retire," said Sosa, whose homer was his 15th this season. "I'm not a quitter. I'm a gladiator."

Baker let Wood finish the game in part because of Wood's shorter workday last week. The 129 pitches were Wood's second-highest total of the season.

"When we start the game, we expect to go nine," said Wood, citing Sosa's catch as a pivotal moment in the game. "Every time. That's what our mind-set is going into the game."

The Cubs' mind-set coming out of the game was important as well.

"It was our first series win in a long time," Baker said of taking two-of-three games from Florida. "It was a great to get this game."